Organizations in the 90s and in the years since 2000, have implemented Management Systems separately, starting in most cases with the Quality Management System and continuing with the Environmental Management Systems and the Management Systems in Occupational Health and Safety.
The Management Systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 22000, etc.) that are managed in a unified way by the management in a culture of improvement and principles of the organization. Through this product, the organization implements a management system with more than one orientation in a single project, based on internationally or nationally accepted management system standards. For example: quality and environment, quality and occupational health and safety.
The purpose of an Integrated Management System is to provide a structure for a total Management System that integrates the common aspects of the individual systems to avoid duplication. Cover the common aspects of these systems to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the business. In practice, many organizations have kept their Systems such as Quality, Environment, and Occupational Health and Safety separate, adding costs and reducing effectiveness. One of the reasons has been the perception of difficulties in achieving integration.
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
The Integrated Management System is an indispensable bet that allows a transversal management in sensitive matters for the company, its workers and society. The realization of the organizational solutions independently of each other, creates a divided management system, what is involved is to see the interrelationships to build a single management system in the company where the new organizational solutions are consistently incorporated, to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in decision making in the short and long term. In any case, there are important similarities between the concepts of quality management, environmental management and management of the prevention of occupational risks, since the principles of good management are the same (Benavides, 2000).
To achieve a fully integrated system, the company will have to consider a process in which depending on its initial situation and the path chosen to achieve integration, that is, the degree of integration of the methodologies and the existing organizational structure at all times, You can place the company in one of the following four cases:
Case A: Null integration:
- Different managers for the different systems, so that some may not even exist Different documentation for the different systems, which translates into excess of it, and rework Systems very focused on control and little on improvement Recommended approach in the integration process: methodological integration.
Case B: Organizational integration:
- A single manager with an imbalance between the different areas due to deformation according to the manager's training background. It is a typical case in SMEs. Minimally integrated documentary structure. Methodologically, it is far from integration. Recommended approach in the integration process: methodological integration.
Case C: Methodological integration:
- Several managers but with methodological integration. High structural costs are maintained and conflicts between disciplines are favored. It is common in large companies. There is document integration and therefore fewer documents. The less integrated the system, the more the influence of the technician is favored. For this reason, the technician is usually the brake on integration. Approach recommended in the integration process: organizational integration, since there is sufficient maturity.
Case D: Full integration:
- A single person in charge. There will be conflicts but they will not affect activities because it is a team Reduced documentation Integration usually affects critical operational processes, but can be extended to all others.
The integration process is nothing more than applying the principles of the process management approach advocated by current business management theory: the idea is to manage the set of processes that make up the company in a unique way, in which the company is understood as a set of processes that must be seen from a global and balanced perspective to achieve maximum business efficiency and effectiveness and customer and society satisfaction, and not from the point of view of specialization in activities disconnected from the global process. The idea is to manage the set of processes that make up the company in a unique way but taking into account the specific requirements applicable in quality, environment, safety and health, etc., instead of managing each function from different and independent points of view.
There must be the commitment and leadership of the organization's Management. Only if the management of the organization is committed, not only with words, but with deeds, will success be achieved. It should not be treated just as a technical problem, as was the classic trend.
- It is a permanent project. Goals cannot be static. The Management System must be immersed in a process of innovation and continuous improvement, given the dynamics of the market and processes and the appearance of new business risks. It is fundamentally based on preventive action and not on corrective action. It is a priority to act before failures occur, instead of controlling their results, although these must also be considered. Efficacy must be measured fundamentally by actions. It must be applied in all phases of the life cycle of products and in all stages of production processes. It is a priority to prevent failures in both normal and abnormal conditions that may occur. The system must be measurable. It will only be effective if you are able to measure and evaluate the situation we are in,and where do we go. In all three areas, the evaluation techniques are similar, and some are even identical. It is very important that measurements are made on prospective indicators, it is everyone's job. It is clear that without the involvement of all the people who work in an organization, it is unlikely to obtain successes in quality, environment or safety, since it is a continuous and integrated process in the entire structure of the organization.since it is a continuous and integrated process in the entire structure of the organization.since it is a continuous and integrated process in the entire structure of the organization.
It is achieved through training. Training is the main key to all aspects that are developed in organizations. Assuming that only when you have mastery over what to do can you begin to secure something.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Doing things right is not a recent invention. Correct methodologies have always existed to obtain good results and possibilities to appreciate the satisfaction of the processes. However, the issue of quality in current times has become one of the most important aspects in the business world, producing goods and services without being certified is giving many advantages to competitors, it is practically obliged to do the same. things with quality or it will simply be in the last places in the market.
The concept of quality has evolved since the beginning of the 20th century, to what we know today as Total Quality, that is, a business management system focused on the satisfaction of the different interest groups inside and outside an organization, covering both to clients, workers and society in general.
The implementation of total quality as a management system is a long and complicated process and entails a change in the way of governing and managing the company, having to consider the following most relevant aspects:
Satisfy the needs of customers.
- Adding value to the customer Doing things right the first time and avoid rectifications Applying quality in all aspects of the organization Giving priority to quality, time and cost Accepting that quality is defined by the customer Accepting that continuous quality improvement needs the customer.
Meet the needs of workers.
- Applying a collaborative and participatory culture that allows creativity and innovation Enhancing the creation of multidisciplinary teams Enhancing self-control to external control Enhancing ongoing training Respecting the environment Enhancing Safety and Hygiene at work
Meet the needs of the state.
- Avoiding superfluous and unnecessary expenses both in inventories, equipment not available due to damage or maintenance, personnel dedicated to repetitive or non-productive tasks, papers and excess paperwork, excess reports and meetings, unnecessary internal controls Be profitable in the medium and long term, within the returns accepted by the sector where the organization carries out its operations.
Satisfy the needs of the Society in General.
- By improving within the organization, society is influenced through the relationships that the organization maintains with it and therefore an improvement in society occurs.
A quality system is a regulatory mechanism for the management of organizations in the following aspects:
- quality of the products or services provided, economy of the processes and profitability of operations, satisfaction of customers and other interested parties, continuous improvement of the above characteristics.
Quality systems are based on two fundamental principles:
- Schedule the activities to be carried out in advance. Control compliance with the schedule.
What is sought is to achieve the quality of products or services through the quality of the processes, that is: if a quality product is obtained through the implementation of a defined process, the invariable repetition of that process must give rise to products quality, meaning quality products those that fully meet customer expectations.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Sustainable development
Since ancient times, man has played a significant role in the introduction of profound and radical changes in the natural environment. A part of humanity, with unsustainable consumption patterns and engaged in struggles to exercise power over strategic natural resources, widens the gap between rich and poor, and exacerbates the problems that overwhelm the planet, endangering the existence of the species human.
Among the most obvious threats looming over planet Earth, two stand out as the most notorious: the nuclear holocaust and environmental pollution. Both have their origin in the activities of the human being; the first has a political aspect, which makes it more dangerous, while the second is framed in the field of social, having within this field a very relevant industrial aspect, which has led to consider it as one more characteristic of business management.
Indeed, the environmental impacts exerted on the universe by human activity have a marked proportionality with the industrial growth developed in recent decades and such harmful phenomena as deforestation or global warming, which characterize the imprint of human actions on nature., have their origin and foundation in economic and business activities that, paradoxically, seek to raise the conditions of quality and comfort for the privileged individuals who are lucky enough to belong to the most developed nations.
Fortunately, the alarm has sounded in the societies that have the most to lose and the growing ecological awareness has defined the concept of "sustainable development" as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. own needs ”, which logically should lead us to the relationship that exists between the regeneration capacity of the ecosystem with the consumption or contributions of elements or waste due to human action, which must be estimated in its broadest sense, considering the Effects that scientifically can be derived from actions as indirect or distant as those appreciated by the so-called “butterfly effect”.
This mentalization of advanced societies, still in a very immature state, has led to two types of actions that fully affect the business world:
- regulatory actions environmental management systems
THE PREVENTION OF LABOR RISKS
Prevention
No employer should remain insensitive to the fatal personal consequences of injuries produced during the performance of a work activity.
The prevention of accidents at work and occupational diseases constitutes a moral duty, even in the unlikely event that the added harm of high economic and social costs does not exist.
The prevention of occupational hazards strives to ensure that, to the wear and tear that workers inevitably have to suffer from the inflexible passage of time, those that are the consequence of carrying out work in poor conditions or without proper protection are not added. Prevention is the work of all and not the monopoly of some. Successes in Security cannot be obtained if it is not through collective work, being necessary that the efforts of all those involved in production be united and that there is the agreement and collaboration of those whom it is desired to protect.
There is a great distance between the enunciation of a general principle of the type: “it is absolutely necessary to prevent accidents” and its daily and constant application in the day-to-day business activity. No one wants or can be interested in the occurrence of injuries or illnesses in the development of a work activity and, nevertheless, the number of incidents seems to increase year after year, or at least, remains stationary without society being identified in any way. prominently with the seriousness of the situation. This lack of awareness and its consequent consequence of high accident figures have their origin in the following causes:
- Lack of information on the risks that may occur Lack of knowledge about actions to tackle risks Low confidence in the effectiveness of the efforts to be made Deep-rooted prejudices regarding the “unavoidable risks of the trade” Subordination of workers efforts to other priorities that are more urgent or seem more important. Overconfidence in performing routine or novel tasks.
As can be seen, the possible causes of errors are very similar to those that produce failures in the quality of products or services, so that since the appearance of standardized quality systems, the opportunity to organize risk management through the application of similar systems. Despite the unsuccessful attempts to establish an international criterion to achieve this, this is the current trend for the treatment of occupational risk prevention and the one that we will precisely try to develop in this text.
In accordance with their training and following the instructions of the employer, they must:
- properly use materials, machines and tools use protective means and equipment correctly use safety devices report any situation that involves risks comply with health and safety obligations cooperate with the employer in risk prevention
Early preventive action.
The employer will apply the appropriate prevention measures in accordance with the following principles:
- avoid risks assess the risks that cannot be avoided combat risks at their source adapt the work to the person take into account the evolution of the technique eliminate the danger or reduce it to a minimum plan prevention integrating the technique and the organization put collective protection before the individual give the proper instructions to the workers
ADVANTAGES OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Alignment of the different policies and objectives of the organization.
Although the subjects to be integrated are not contrary in their substance or philosophy, nor do they conflict because they are treated at the same time, it is no less true that sometimes efforts are more concentrated on some aspects than on others, sometimes for no apparent reason., others due to whims or erroneous beliefs of the Management and, in the worst case, due to ignorance of the topics discussed.
By integrating the different management systems, the adequate distribution of the periods of dedication to each one of them, the resources and the averages in each of the areas is ensured.
Harmonization of the different management criteria.
Integration balances the importance of each management area and avoids the reductionist approach of those who say "we are certified in quality because the market demands it, in the environment so as not to have problems with the Administration… and the PRL so as not to have problems with a case of accident or an inspection ”. It is about homogenizing actions, responsibilities, terminologies and avoiding unnecessary duplications: why can't a certain registry serve to comply with the same requirement that appears in the three models?
Simplification of the documentary structure of the system.
To integrate is to add eliminating duplications. Common requirements or practices can be simplified into a single document, saving two documents. This is most noticeable in the systems management requirements. Thus, for example, a procedure on the management of corrective actions could be perfectly valid for the three disciplines contemplated.
Less overall effort to train staff and implement the system.
Thanks to the similarity in the operation diagrams of these systems, once the operation of a management system (for example, quality management) has been formed or explained, the others show minimal differences in terms of their architecture. Appropriate training would consist of explaining the common sections with the first and highlighting the specific procedures or practices of each of them.
Less effort to maintain the system.
By reducing the number of documents that make up the integrated system compared to the three separate systems, the reissue of documents, their distribution and dissemination, etc., is faster and easier.
Integration of information and management control.
The information on quality management, the environment or the prevention of occupational hazards is not kept in watertight compartments.
The information of the organization is interrelated and the aim is to take advantage of this circumstance by integrating all the information in, for example, a good computer and file network.
Relatability of the different tasks in a single job.
It is about different tasks being carried out by a single person, so that the performance criteria are common in terms of their application. In this way, today we find the function of the Quality, Environment and PRL Manager as the person responsible for the control (as a general practitioner) and for the correct operation of the three systems. Being centralized in the same figure, said control increases in efficiencies.
Only in large organizations would it be justified to separate the management of the three systems by different people (even if the system was equally unified).
Reduction of time and cost of system maintenance.
Suffice the example of the cost of follow-up audits of certification bodies: the less documentation involved, the less time spent preparing and executing the audit.
COMMON SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
There is a great similarity in the requirements of each system and these constitute key elements to take into account for the management of an integrated quality, environment and occupational health and safety system.
The following table shows us the common requirements of each standard.
Bibliography
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